I don't disagree that climate change is happening on some level, however the impacts are largely speculative and debatable. 

This is inherently speculative so you need to know what angle are you trying to move on.

They were speculators hoping and praying on future appreciation.  

For a property like this, even in California, I would anticipate at least a +7% CR.Additionally, betting on appreciation is speculative and not the best approach to long-term investing.

However hard to speculate without undersanding more about the property, proposed construction, timeline etc.   

As I see it this is the worst option to bank on appreciation as appreciation is speculative 

This is all opinion and speculation but I have put my money where my mouth is.

If you were actually at my event, you'd know that 1) I buy at wholesale prices, 2) I buy for cash flow, not for speculative appreciation, 3) we 'create' appreciation by making value-add improvements to properties, and never speculate, 4) I stabilize properties & refi out my investors in 12-18 months, allowing more predictability in interest rates & loan terms than speculating 5-7 years out like most syndicators do, 5) if the market shifts, I'm at a low enough cost basis that I have many options on what to do with the property (hold, refi, sell, etc), 6) once investors are cashed out in 12-18 months, I'm the only one with ongoing responsibility & liability (even though it's a non-recourse loan there is still some liability I take on), 7) I project for increased interest rates (which actually just dropped .25% last week, btw), lower LTVs, and lower valuations than what the market is showing right now, keeping us at very safe levels, and 8) I only buy workforce A & B class apartments (not luxury, not C/D class) which is the most insulated asset class in real estate.I have NEVER publicly pitched a deal, or even pitched a deal in my events. 

Guessing an appraisal would be somewhere around the 100k mark for the property this is all speculation based on comparable properties.

You can't legally deny someone because they are "section 8" prospects..you can, however, deny a tenant for other speculations, such as bad credit report, poor rental history etc..I don't see why you wouldn't want to rent to section 8 prospects though?